China is churning out solar panels—and upsetting sand markets

Sand is all over the place. But solely a sure type can be utilized to make the ultra-clear glass required for smartphones and photo voltaic panels. It should have a silica focus of greater than 99.9%, in opposition to lower than 80% for development materials. This high-quality sand is scarce: of the 50bn or so tonnes extracted annually, lower than 1% can be utilized to provide common glass. A tiny fraction of that’s pure sufficient for photo voltaic panels.